Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Despite a pretty major product rollout glitch with the delay of Montevina, Intel managed to beat top line estimates by a bit. Gross margins came in roughly 1% light at 55%. Emerging market strength held the quarter together. Guidance of 10.0 - 10.6 bil for next quarter is roughly in-line with normal seasonality but above street consensus and gross margin guidance of ~58% is better than expectations.

Assuming there is no further slippage in Montevina, Intel should make their forecast. The notebook market has held in surprisingly well in the face of the domestic economic malaise -- even domestically sales have remained pretty strong. I maintain that this is related to the growing importance of the internet as an information and social tool. PCs are quickly becoming as indispensable as the television and telephone.